WRHM (Guyanan TV station)

WRHM, also known as WRHM 7 is a Guyanese over-the-air television network owned by WRHM Inc., it is the second oldest television station in the country and the first to be available entirely free-to-air. In addition to its main station on channel 7, it operates a second station on channel 38.^[2]

It is unknown when exactly did WRHM sign on. Before its launch, there was only one television station in Guyana, VCT Network, which was a scrambled outlet in its early years. WRHM was the first to broadcast its signals without subscription.^[3] WRHM was given two licenses, even though it was not originally registered as a company, which it did so in 1992.^[4] In February 1998, WRHM announced that it would relocate its second channel (channel 6) to UHF channel 38, with the vacated VHF frequency being used by CNS.^[5] The move was complete in April.^[6]

On April 6, 2000, WRHM was the Guyanese carrier of a special CARICOM discussion program on the establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice.^[7] The station, alongside VCT, was the target of criticism due to the airing of the Andrew Douglas tape.^[8]

It obtained the rights to the 2008 Olympic Games alongside the Caribbean Media Corporation and US network NBC. The channel would carry rights from both feeds, with CMC favoring Caribbean athletes.^[9] This caused a minor incident with NCN Television, causing it to prevent the channel from airing any NBC outlet without consent from the parties involved.^[10]

The station was one of several that pooled its resources to combat a GUY$2.5 license fee.^[11] On October 1, 2013, the station received a warning from the regulator to apply for a new license by October 31, otherwise, the station would be considered illegal under the new laws.^[12]

Its founder Rex McKay died on December 21, 2023, at the age of 95.^[13]